HELLO

It’s Nice to Meet You

I should preface this by saying I am by no means a great writer but I am a good cook.

My life has been completely surrounded by food and wine. I grew up in my fathers liquor store and although at the time the best thing on the menu for me was O'Rielly's Crinkle Cut chippies and Nippy's vac packed Orange Juice, spending my holidays dusting bottles, blast chilling champagne and pushing trolleys around for customers cemented my love of service.

My youth was also largely spent enjoying my mothers catering off cuts and baking from both sides of the family. One Grandmother would be on a constant rotation with her Croatian doughnuts while the other Grandmother fluttered butterfly cakes up from Blenheim. We were fortunate enough to have a small cafe in our village which served up amazing baking, fresh sandwiches and the best and I mean THE BEST chicken liver pate. They had massive bowls in the cabinet for you to have as many scoops as you needed. It was around this time I started to bake banana loaves. Next came the chocolate chips and before you knew it, my banana cakes were like stodgy puddings due to how much chocolate I had put it. I became fascinated with the idea of taking over the pate cafe, The Parson's Nose, and turning it into a Banana Cafe. Everything had to be banana. This long held dream stayed with me for many many years.

In high school we were told to do a work placement and I was welcomed into the fast paced arena that was Dixon St Deli. I had never been surrounded by so much food and so many wonderful people. To this day I think about the Tandoori Chicken Pasta Salad and the Pumpkin Bread. It was so soft and chewy, I endeavour to recreate it one day.

My first real job in the food industry was with Ruth and Paul Pretty. I cut my teeth washing dishes for hours from the endless catering events they had over the course of the week. From there I moved up through their ranks and the pinnacle of my work for them was being part of the team who went to Valencia to work for Team New Zealand at the America’s Cup. I spend most of my money on cheap Moët, Patatas Bravas and sticks of Chorizo.

I studied at a the Pacific Hospitality Management School and did two work placements in Sydney. The first was at the Four Seasons Hotel where I worked in all the food and beverage areas. My most memorable time was in the Executive Lounge where at 4pm what didn't get eaten was taken down the staff lift back to the kitchen. The amount of Dark Chocolate Peppermint Cream cakes I would shove into my face as fast at the 30 odd floors would take still amazes me today. I often think of them too.

Tonic Farac then shepherded me as a trainee manager at Wildfire for my second placement. I learnt about costings, wages, rosters, basic boring operational things that would benefit my future moving through the scene.

From here I worked for Neil Perry in two of his new restaurants being lucky enough to open both places with some of the best service industry professionals I will ever have worked with. Spice Temple and Rockpool Bar & Grill were outstanding and incredible. It was here I met Catherine Adams who became a real source of inspiration to me. Not only was she a kiwi but she was so good at her craft, she made me want to learn what she was making. There was one dish, Black Forest Gateaux, and when served it came under a soft cloud like blanket of mascarpone sabayon. It was a lightening bolt moment when I realised that I was on the wrong side of the paddock. I needed to learn how to make all this beautiful food. From cooking the perfect piece of beef, dressing a salad with a lightness of touch and then the sabayon. I had to learn the sabayon.

I returned to New Zealand and embarked on a new journey. I was a solo mother for 8 years. At the starting point of this I made a deal with myself that although I would always put my son first, I would push to keep my dreams alive. I started a blog called Mama's Pantry. This was my starting point to learn how to cook. I cooked with my son strapped into a seat against the bench and slowly but surely we shared this journey together.

During this time I worked as a manager at the Matterhorn, The White House and then a front of house consultant for both Arbitrageur and The Roxy Cinema. My roles were basically to implement staff training manuals and operational changes to benefit a better work flow. Pretty boring.

Prefab opened and I welcomed the chance to step back and just waitress for a while. Bridget and Jeff were really supportive of my cooking endeavours and offered me the role of Head Baker after a couple of years. This was it, I finally stepped over the line and fell over the fence with a thud. The work was not just physically hard, it pushed me mentally. The perfect loaf of bread really can come down to the difference of a few degrees when proving. It didn't drive me mental, it drove me forward. Sticking it out and building momentum I took the biggest leap of faith and opened my cafe.

Tomboy. Named after my son Tomislav. The centre point to all my pivoting. My anchor.

Now in its 8th year I can safely say that taking the leap and diving into my long held Banana Cafe dream, Tomboy was the best thing I could do for myself and my son.

And so we arrive at today. I am a 36 year old mother and business owner who has immersed her life in food, wine and all things in between. I have created a new outlet for my passion with @KatieBresolin on Instagram. This for me is an opportunity to stretch my wings beyond my business. To step out of my brioche bubble and do something new for me. The long hours of business ownership have somewhat dulled my abilities so this venture is a slow moving one.

I have recently started a Cookbook Club in Wellington for likeminded food lovers to meet once a month. We had our first meet last weekend and it was fabulous. A beautiful mix of home cooks who share the love and passion for cooking, eating and talking about it.

Whether you accept me or not, I have to thank you. I have not opened some of these memories for a long time and having an opportunity to revisit them gives me a chance to feel very proud of what I have achieved and come through to get to where I am in the industry that I love.

Kindest,

Kate

(p.s. I learnt the sabayon)

You’ve just read my submission to the New Zealand Food Writers Association of which they kindly let me in ❣️

---